News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Stock Moved Up to “Strong-Buy” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of News (NASDAQ:NWSA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

NWSA has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on News in a research report on Monday, October 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, News presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.80.

News Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ NWSA opened at $26.39 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.62. News has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $31.66. The stock has a market cap of $14.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56 and a beta of 1.01.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. News had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 6.76%. News’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that News will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On News

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of News by 2.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,245,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,842,000 after acquiring an additional 94,368 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in News by 80.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,069,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,652 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new position in News in the third quarter valued at about $79,840,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in News by 120.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,326,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in News by 174.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,911,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,648 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Company Profile

News Corporation is a global media and information services company. Its businesses include Dow Jones, which provides financial news and data through outlets such as The Wall Street Journal; HarperCollins, a book publisher; and News Corp’s news media operations, which publish newspapers and digital news services.

The company also operates digital real estate businesses, including Realtor.com in the United States and REA Group in Australia. Its brands and services reach audiences and customers across the Americas, Europe, Australia and other international markets.

News Corporation was formed in 2013 when the former News Corporation separated its publishing and media operations from its entertainment businesses.